Maybe it stems from the fact that we live in a feudalistic and religious society, but Nepal’s path down this slippery slope towards anarchy can be directly attributed to a total lack of accountability from its leaders and others in positions of authority. It started hundreds of years ago, it still continues and it is the major reason that this country is in the state it is in today.

The biggest mistake the democratic forces made in 1990 was that they wiped the slate clean for those Panchayat leaders who had abused their authority and who had been responsible for the excesses perpetrated against the people. While retribution and revenge do not lead to a peaceful society in the short term, it acts as a powerful deterrent to abuse of authority in the long run. If a government or the system was so cruel and so bad that it required months of protests and a popular uprising to topple it, why was it not thought necessary to hold the perpetrators of injustices and corruption accountable? Shortsighted diplomats were mainly responsible for persuading the pro-democratic forces to accept a peaceful transition void of ‘revenge and retribution’. The non-implementation of the Mallik Commission Report is a case in point. While it did lead to a smooth transition in 1990, it was also the main factor which has led to the present state of chaos and uncertainty in the country.

In the era of parliamentary democracy, accountability was never demanded by the public. This can be attributed to simple naivety, an immature democracy and to the fact that we live in a feudalistic society at present. Politicians never felt a sense of responsibility to their country or their constituents. This allowed the socio-economic conditions to deteriorate enough for the Maoist revolution to blossom.

While the general public is partially responsible for the emergence of corrupt and inept governments in the 1990s, it is the lack of accountability within the political parties that has not allowed the present movement to go forward. Whenever I read of former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the one question that I kept asking (but never found an answer to) was, “If the present governance is unconstitutional, why did you accept the post of Prime Minister in 2004?” I ask the same question of Madhav Nepal as well. It seems that there are very few people inside the political parties asking their own leaders to account for the mistakes they made during their tenure. Sher Bahadur Deuba hands the keys of the country on a platter to the King by dissolving parliament, yet his party does not hold him accountable. Madhav Kumar Nepal leads his party to embarrassment by agreeing to play not second, but third fiddle in 2004, yet he is still the proud leader of the CPN-UML. There is no doubt that democracy needs to mature, but it cannot mature if the proponents of democracy themselves do not understand what accountability is — or even worse, if they choose to ignore it.

If this movement is to succeed, the seven parties have to stress accountability and actually demand it. In a measure of good faith, they have to show the public that they are demanding accountability within their own party as well. They need to make it clear to the present government that when (not if) this government collapses, there will be a day of judgment for everyone and when that day comes, nobody will get away with the standard “I was simply following orders” excuse that we heard in 1990.

There is the argument that a government that fears retribution will be less likely to compromise. One can eliminate the fear of retribution by creating a “deadline”. The deadline wou-ld be the date where the slate would be wiped clean, and all injustices forgotten. After that date, every crime committed, every false accusation made and every rupee stolen would not be overlooked and would not go unpunished.

People will do anything, and justify anything, if there is no price to pay. When the stakes are low, everyone wants in. If the stakes are raised, and people have to now fear for their personal well-being, it could very well happen that they do not place enough faith in this government to keep serving. The political parties have to separate the people who want to play a high-stakes game from the people who don’t.

My father Dr Devendra Raj Panday has been jailed for more than two months. While the government will argue that he has been charged with a crime, everyone understands that it is simply semantics. Will the government which made the decision to jail him ever be held accountable? The government has to understand that you cannot expand authority and shed responsibility; you cannot preach democracy and deny freedom; you cannot preach law and order and hold yourself above the Constitution. The people in this government need to fear the day of judgment and understand that when the day comes, they will be held accountable for what they have done to this country and what they are doing.

Dr Pant teaches at Roger Williams University, Rhode Island, USA